Ether volatilizer



Feb. 3, 1959 E. o. PRATT 2,872,167

y ETHER VOLATILIZER Filed sept. 24, 195e i? g 727 gf 49 e@ $7 FLOWMETERllllllhhhll l i619 la'x e I' i y A10 u *n 6,

ETHER VLATILIZER Edmond O. Pratt, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application September 24, 1956, Serial No. 611,464

S Claims. (Cl. 261-14) This invention relates to an apparatus foradministering ether as an anesthetic and has as its primary object theprovision of an apparatus for volatilizing ether which is capable ofgenerating and maintaining a flow of gasiiied or volatilized ether ofuniform concentration thereby facilitating its use in anesthetizationand rendering such use more positive and deiinite in its eiects thanwhere the ether is volatilized under conditions resulting in excessivevariations in its concentration.

Another object is to provide a means for producing volatilized ether atan even slightly lower than room temperature and at slightly abovenormal atmospheric pressure and in such manner as to obviatecondensation or freezing of fluid in the apparatus and without the aidof heating or temperature regulating appliances.

A further object is to provide a construction whereby the above recitedresults are obtained by directing an air stream at room temperaturethrough a body of liquid ether in a fashion to cause the air stream toconductthe liquid ether to an elevated point in an enclosed chamber andthere cause the liquid to be diiused and cascaded downward over theinner face of the chamber side walls and be collected in part in aseries of separatedopen troughs on the latter and by etfecting therecited operation at a maintained substantially even temperature byequipping the walls of the enclosed chamber with outwardly projectingradial vertically extending heat conducting ns adapted to absorb heatfrom the surrounding atmosphere and conduct it to the side walls of thechamber for absorption by the latter with resultant prevention ofexcessively low temperature in the volatilizer.

With the foregoing objects in view together with such other objects andadvantages as may subsequently appear, the invention resides in theparts and in the combination, construction and arrangement of partshereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated by way `of example inthe accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a View of the volatilizer partly in vertical section andpartly in elevation;

Fig. 2 is a plan View with portions broken away;

Fig. 3 is a detail in horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 `of Fig.l; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail in vertical section taken on the line 4 4of Fig. 2 showing a valve `controlled iiller appliance with which thevolatilizer is equipped.

Referring to the drawings more specically A indicates generally a basinconstituting an ether receptacle, which basin is of generally invertedtruncated form and has an open upper end tted with a removable cover B.The basin and -cover are preferably formed of sheet metal such as copperand collectively form an enclosed volatilizing chamber C.

The side wall 6 of the basin A is formed with a series of inwardly olsetsteps comprising side walls a and dished top walls b, the walls a beinghere shown las extending parallel with the axis of the frustro-conicalbasin but which obviously may be slightly inclined. The walls b formshallow annular troughs for collecting bodies of liquid ether directeddownwardly over the side wall 6 of the basin as will be later described.

The upper end of the basin A is formed with a marginal rolled rim 7 fromwhich leads downwardly a slightly inwardly inclined side wall portion d.The rim 7 and wall d form a seat for the cover B, which as here shownembodies an annular side wall 3 the lower portion of which is adapted tobe positioned within the open end of the basin A in close proximity withthe Wall d. The Wall 8 carries a pair of spaced parallelcircumferentially extending resilient sealing rings 9 and 10 of whichthe ring 9 bears tightly against the inner face of the wall d and thering 1@ seats snugly on the inner marginal portion of the rolled rim 7.By this arrangement the cover B may be readily removed from the basin Ato give access to the interior thereof, when need be, by merely liftingthe cover from the basin, yet when the cover is in place on the basin itwill tightly close the upper end of the latter and seal the volatilizingchamber therein.

Fixedly mounted on the top Wall `e of the cover B and extendingtransversely thereof is a distributor D embodying an elongated bar 11one end of which is formed with an intake -passage 12 and the other endof which is formed with a discharge passage 13. The inner ends of thepassages 12-13 terminate in spaced relation to each other and opendownwardly through the top Wall e to the interior of the cover B.

Leading downwardly from the inner end of the intake passage 12 is a tube14 the lower end of which is turnedA upwardly adjacent the bott-om wallof the basin and terminates in a nozzle 15 which opens to a venturi likethroat 16 on the lower end of a vertically disposed open ended tube 17extending axially of the basin A with its upper end opening adjacent tothe under side of the top wall e of the cover B. The tube 17 is carriedon a horizontally extending distributor disk E arranged adjacent theupper end of the tube 17 and through the center of which the latterextends, the disk E being affixed to the tube 17 as by a soldered jointf.

The disk E is arranged in the space bounded by the side wall S of thecover B and has its outer margin spaced from but adjacent to the innerperiphery of the cover side wall. The disk E inclines downwardly fromits juncture with the tube 17 and has its outer margin downturned anddirected toward the uppermost trough b.

The disk E is here shown as carried in part on a collar g mounted on thetube 14 which latter extends through' the disk. The disk is also partlysupported on the ilared lower end h of a vertical discharge tube 18which extends upwardly through the disk D and connects with the innerend of the discharge passage 13.

The intake passage 12 is connected at its outer end through a coupling19 with a conduit 20 leading from a suitable source of supply of airunder pressure such as a pump P. The passage 12 is equipped with aspring pressed normally closed check valve 21 adapted to open under thepressure `of air delivered to the passage 12 from the conduit 20.

Mounted on the underside of the top wall e of the cover B in overlyingrelation to the open upper end of the tube 17, is a spreader F fordirecting fluid discharged thereagainst from the tube 17 and deliveringit downwardly onto the inclined upper face of the disk E.

The outer end of the discharge passage 13 connects through a tlow meterG with a discharge conduit 22 leading to the usual anestheticapplicator, not shown.

The cover B is equipped with a iiller appliance H particularly shown inFig. 4, which appliance embodies a housing 24 tted with a rotary taperedvalve 25 formed with a pair of longitudinally spaced transverselyextending parallel passages i and j which when the valve 2S is in oneposition opens ports k ,and l in the housing 24 to passages m and nleading through the top wall e of the cover B to the interior of thelatter, the valve 25 closing the ports k and l and passages i and j onbeing turned a quarter turn from-the position shown in` Fig. 4. The portl is equipped with a filling hopper 27.

When the' valve 25 is positioned as shown in Fig. 4 on pouring etherinto the hopper 27 it will be delivered through the port l and passagesj and n into the space defined by the cover B and disk E and will bedirected by the latter into the basin A. Air displaced by the inowingether will be vented through the passages m and i and port k.

As a means for determining the volume of ether contained in the basin atany time the latter is equipped with a level indicator I consisting of atransparent tube 2S arranged contiguous the outer face of the side wallof the basin vertically thereof with one end of the tube 23 opening tothe interior of the basin adjacent the bottom thereof through aconnection 29 and with its upper end opening to the interior of thebasin through a connection 3).

A feature of the invention resides in equipping the basin A with aplurality of spaced heat conductive radial ns K extending vertically ofthe side wall 6 of the basin throughout the length thereof in abuttingrelation thereto with the inner portions of the tins conforming to thestepped contours of the basin. The lower ends of the ns are extendedbelow the bottom wall of the basin to provide legs on which the lattermay be supported.

In the operation of the invention a suitable quantity of ether isdelivered into the basin through the appliance H as before described,suicient either being supplied to submerge the lower end of the tube 17and nozzle 1S. On thus placing the requisite amount of ether within thebasin the valve 25 is turned to its closed position whereupon, when itis desired to vaporize the ether, air under low pressure is directedfrom the pump P through the conduit from whence it flows past the valve21 through the intake passage 12 and through the tube 14 and nozzle 1Sso that on discharge from the nozzle the air stream will act to forceether through the throat 16 upwardly through the tube 17 from which theresultant mixture of air and ether will be directed into the space inthe cover B above the disk E and will be directed over the margin of thelatter into the basin A.

The ether thus delivered into the basin A will be in a thinly diffusedstate and on being directed over the downturned margin of the disk Ewill be directed downwardly in a iinely divided state into the uppermosttrough b wherein a shallow body of the ether may accumulate and on llingthe uppermost trough b will overow the latter and pass successivelydownward into and from the progressively offset troughs over the walls ain cascade fashion.

The flowing ether as well as any static body thereof in the basin willtend to evaporate and charge the air content of the chamber C with ethervapors, which action will be augmented by the stream of air delivered tothe chamber C as above described owing over the diffused liquid etherand passing to discharge through the tube 18, as well as by the intimatecontact of the air stream with the ether owing through the tube 17 anddiiused above the distributor disk E.

The developed ether vapors will be directed, under the pressure of airdelivered to the chamber C, to discharge through the tube 18, dischargepassage 13, flow-meter 22, and conduit 23 to the usual ether applicator,not shown.

The unvaporized ether will flow progressively downward into thesuccessive troughs b over the successive opstanding walls a whileundergoing at least partial volatilization, such portion of the etherfilling the successive troughs b with possibly a portion of theunvaporized ether returning to theV body of ether contained in the'either excessive overheating or cooling of the ether is prevented andwhereby the ether vapors are formed in "te volatilizer and dischargedtherefrom at a substantially uniform temperature and at a controlledpressure just slightly above atmospheric pressure generated andcontrolled by the pump P.

l claim:

l. in a volatilizer, a housing having a side wall surrounding avolatlizing chamber and having a lower end wall and being open at itsupper end, a demountable cover closing said upper end, valved means forconducting liquid into said chamber through said cover, a distributordisk in the upper portion of said chamber suspended from said cover-andhaving a margin spaced from but proximate to the housing walls, an openended tube carried by and leading downwardly through said disk into saidchamber, means for conducting air under pressure into the lower portionof said tube to cause the ow of liquid from said chamber upwardlythrough said tube into the space between said disk and cover, a seriesof successively inwardly offset troughs progressing downwardly along thehousing wall, and means for conducting vapors from the upper end portionof said volatlizing chamber from immediately beneath and through saiddistributor disk and through said cover.

2. The structure called for in claim 1 in which the housing is formedwith a series of vertically extending outwardly projecting heatconductive fins having lower ends extending below said lower end wall toform a support for said housing.

3. An ether volatilizer comprising a housing embodying a downwardlytapered lower portion including a side wall having an upper end andhaving a lower end, a cover portion having its margin connected to theupper end of said lower portion, said connected portions enclosing avolatlizing chamber, a series of inwardly offset downwardly progressingtroughs within said chamber formed on the side wall of said lowerportion, a horizontal distributor disk in said chamber carried by andsuspended from said cover portion in spaced relation thereto, airconductive means for conveying ether from said reservoir to the spacebetween said disk and cover, means for supplying air under pressure tosaid conductive means, said disk having a margin arranged to directether therefrom into the uppermost of -said troughs, and means forconducting ether vapors from said chamber from immediately beneath andthrough said distributor and through said cover portion.

4. An ether volatilizer comprising a housing embodying a lower bodyportion and an upper cover portion detachably connected together andenclosing a volatlizing chamber; said lower body portion having adownwardly and inwardly converging side wall having a series of inwardlyoffset downwardly progressing spaced apart annular troughs therein andhaving a series of radially and vertically arrange-d heat conductingnsthereon extending throughout the length of said side wall and conformingat their inner margins to the transverse contours of said troughs, ahorizontal disk in said cover portion spaced therefrom and carriedthereby having a margin extending over the uppermost of said troughs, anopen ended tube and carried thereby extending through said disk andprojecting downwardly into said chamber, a venturi like throat in thelower portion of said tube, an air supply tube leading from above saiddisk into said chamber, a nozzle on said last named tube opening intothe lower end of said first named tube below said throat, means fordelivering air under pressure to said air supply tube, means forconducting liquid ether to said chamber above said disk, and means forconducting ether vapors from said vaporizing chamber from immediatelybeneath said disk.

5. An ether volatilizer comprising a basin having a horizontal bottomwall and an upwardly extending side wall formed of thin sheet metal,said side Wall being of general inverted frustro-conical form and havinga series of vertically spaced annular troughs on its inner peripherywith the outer margin of the troughs connected to the inner margins ofthe adjacent troughs therebeneath by a portion of said side wall; acover closing the upper end of said basin having a top wall; said coverand basin enclosing a volatilizing chamber; a horizontally extendingdistributor seated on said cover top wall having an intake passage inone end thereof and a separate discharge passage in its other end; meansfor -delivering a stream of air under pressure to said intake passage;an air delivering tube connecting with said intake passage leadingdownwardly in said chamber to adjacent said bottom wall and having anupturned nozzle on its lower end; a horizontally extending distributordisk spaced downwardly from the cover top wall through which said tubeextends; a discharge tube leading downwardly from said discharge passagethrough said cover top wall and through said disk and opening to saidchamber beneath said disk; said disk being `carried on said tube; anopen ended ether delivery tube carried by said disk and extendingaxially therethrough with its upper end opening adjacent said cover topwall and with its lower end presented to said nozzle and formed with aventuri like throat above said nozzle and adjacent thereto; and adeiiector on the underside of said cover top wall overlying the openupper end of said ether delivery tube.

Reerences @ited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 404,143Wirtz May 28, 1889 611,616 Emringer et al Oct. 4, 1898 678,194 PicklesJuly 9, 1901 1,156,905 Kaiser et al. Oct. 19, 1915 1,404,701 PfistererIan. 24, 1922 1,498,408 Stoms June 17, 1924 1,806,999 Ling May 26, 19311,969,986 McGrail Aug. 14, 1934 2,356,530 Pflock Aug. 22, 1944 2,437,526Heidbrink et al. Mar. 9, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 23,351 Great Britain Oct.15, 1913 222,377 Great Britain Oct. 2, 192A 551,574 Great Britain Mar.1, 1943

1. IN A VIOLATILIZER, A HOUSING HAVING A SIDE WALL SURROUNDING AVIOLATILIZING A CHAMBER AND HAVIN G A LOWER END WALL AND BEING AT ITSUPPER END, A DEMOUNTABLE COVER CLOSING SAID UPPER END, VALVED MEANS FORCONDUCTING LIQUID INTO SAID CHAMBER THROUGH SAID COVER, A DISTRIBUTORSDISK IN THE UPPER PORTION OF SAID CHAMBER SUSPENDED FROM SAID COVERAND HAVING A MARGINE SPACED FROM BUT PROXIMATE TO THE HOUSING WALLS, ANOPEN ENDED TUBE CARRIED BY AND LEADING DOWNWARDLY THROUGH SAID DISK INTOSAID CHAMBER, MEANS FOR CONDUCTING AIR UNDER PRESSURE INTO THE LOWERPORTION OF SAID TUBE TO CAUSE THE FLOW OF LIQUID FROM SAID CHAMBERUPWARDLY THROUGH SAID TUBE INTO THE SPACE BETWEEN SAID DISK AND COVER, ASERIES OF SUCCESSIVELY INWARDLY OFFSET THROUGH PROGESSING DOWNWARDLYALONG THE HOUSING WALL, AND MEANS FOR CONDUCTING VAPOR FROM THE UPPEREND PORTION OF SAID VOLATILIZING CHAMBER FROM IMMEDIATELY BENEATH ANDTHROUGH SAID DISTRIBUTORS DISK AND THROUGH SAID COVER.